Warm your soul on #Giving Tuesday

by Andrea Powell, HPCCR Electronic Communications Manager

Well, did you max out your credit cards over the weekend? Did you take advantage of all the deals from Black Friday (technically, I guess, it all started on Thursday this year, didn’t it?!) all the way through Cyber Monday? Are you feeling just a tad bit guilty over how much you spent?

Well, here’s the good news: there is a way to make yourself feel better. The bad news: it’s not necessarily free. BUT. It’s for a very good cause. Lots of causes actually. Because today is (drumroll, please). . . #Giving Tuesday (yes, the hashtag is supposed to be there — social media stuff). It’s your day to make a difference.

This is the inaugural year for #Giving Tuesday. The idea started last year when a couple of foundations and other non-profits got together and decided that the commercialism of the holiday season has begun to outweigh the charitable and giving nature of the holiday season. In an effort to help people change the way they think about, talk about, and participate in, the holidays, they decided to create a day for folks to give back. In a nutshell, #Giving Tuesday celebrates and encourages charitable activities that support nonprofit organizations.

What does that mean for you? Well, you can volunteer at an organization that supports your passionate cause. Sign up to purchase or make a holiday meal for a family in need. Drop off canned goods at a food bank. Have a bake sale and donate the proceeds to a not-for-profit whose mission tugs at your heart. Go through your closets. Collect clothes that you don’t wear anymore, or coats that your kids have outgrown and take them to the Salvation Army. Or just simply make a donation to your favorite organization. The whole point is to do something that reminds you of the giving nature of the holidays. Acts of kindness that fuel the fires of your heart and warm your soul.

If HPCCR is the organization that you want to support, we will gladly accept your acts of kindness. We have families under our care who would be thrilled to have a nice holiday meal, for example. We have patients who would relish the conversation of a volunteer. Family members who would benefit from a few minutes to get out and run errands without having to worry about their loved one. And, of course, we would gratefully accept your donation too. (It’s no secret that the pockets of not-for-profits tend to run toward the shallow side.)

But, seriously, we don’t care which organization you want to support; we just hope you support one. Because the intent of #Giving Tuesday — serving others and bringing the holidays back to what really matters — is gracious and generous. It encompasses the nature of our best selves.

So do something nice today on #Giving Tuesday. And then you can let your best self lounge, guilt-free, on the couch in front of that 50-inch, flat-screen TV screen that you got for a screaming good deal on Black Friday.